


Briefly Noted

by thenewradical



Category: Montmaray Journals - Michelle Cooper
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-23
Updated: 2012-12-23
Packaged: 2017-11-22 02:29:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewradical/pseuds/thenewradical
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Also reviewed in this issue: A Brief History of Montmaray by Veronica FitzOsborne.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Briefly Noted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ivynights (incantatem)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/incantatem/gifts).



> Doing my part to tie up the loose end of "What happened to Veronica's book?"

[From The New Yorker, March 14, 1953]

Americans have a tendency to read anything about royalty, and if it’s by a royal, even better. Those who pick up the recently imported _Brief History of Montmaray_ looking for frothy gossip will instead be confronted by an engaging history of the small island in the Bay of Biscay. The author, Her Royal Highness Princess Veronica of Montmaray (or Ms.FitzOsborne, as she goes by in her professional life) has been something of a fascination for Europe’s foreign policy community, dating back to her appearance at the League of Nations on the eve of the second world war. Her time at the London School of Economics and work with the U.N. has only added to her reputation of intelligence and quick wit, both of which are on display in this tome. As advertised, the book traces the island’s history, beginning with its founding in 1542 by banished English baron Bartholomew FitzOsborne, who crashed onto Montmaray’s shore and decided to declare himself king. No detail is too small for Ms. FitzOsborne, whose passion for the project shines through in even the dullest treaty analysis.

The book would have benefited from a more thorough editor (at 429 pages, one wonders what the _complete_ history would have looked like) and the deluge of facts can seem almost like a jumble. It is the evidence that steps outside of the traditionally “historic” which brings about the book’s most engaging moments. Ms. FitzOsborne includes aerial photographs of the island taken by her cousin, King Tobias, during his service with the Royal Air Force. Also included are excerpts from the diary of his sister Princess Sophia. Indeed, the volume’s most thrilling part is not the tales of triumphs in battle, but Ms. FitzOsborne’s introduction, informing the reader that she was unable to thoroughly fact check the book because Montmaray’s library was destroyed by the Nazis in 1937. The book’s mere existence is a fitting monument to the family’s enduring legacy.


End file.
